SIDDHI NAYAK
Mumbai, February 22
THE INDIAN RUPEE rose on Thursday toa more than five month closing high, aided by an uptick in its Asian peers and on the back of dollar inflows into the domestic share and bond markets. The rupee sett ledat 82.84 to the US dollar, its highest closing level since September 4 after having logged its biggest single-session gain in nearly two months. Throughout the day, the rupee traded in a range of 82.84 and 82.95, after closing at 82.97 in the previous session. It rose to a three week high during the day. The brief outages on various London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) news and currency trading platforms globally did not have a material impact on the rupee, traders said. “Overall, the reis ahigher potential for the rupee to rise above 82.80, given the robust foreign inflows. But the RBI’s (central bank) firm grip on the currency could limit any further upside,’ said Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex.“ The stability of the rupee is also aiding confidence among investors for a favourable carry set up.” The dollar struggled despite a further decline in the odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut in March or May afterthe minutes of the central bank'slast policy meeting indicated it needs tobe sure that inflationary risks receded before cutting rates. Meanwhile, the dollar/rupee forward premiums dipped, with the one-yearimpliedyield falling tothe lowest in two months. Traders said the RBI's upcoming $5 billion swap maturity was probably leading to a receiving interest, pushing forward premiums lower. The central bank's sell dollars/buy rupees swap matures on March 11. —
REUTERS
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